Kacy Rodgers Admits Bucs Don’t Care Where Sacks Come From
November 7th, 2024
Bucs assistant Kacy Rodgers.
For all but 4 of the 17 Bucs seasons Joe has been banging away on this here corner of the interwebs, Joe worn out multiple keyboards begging, pleading, screaming, praying, hollering for the Bucs to get an edge rusher.
Joe has an unshakeable belief, forged by watching decades of football, reading statistical data about football and speaking with Hall of Fame team-builders, that the absolute No. 1 most important position on defense is an edge rusher.
Hall of Fame personnel executive Gil Brandt often said only quarterback was a more important position for a team.
And now that the NFL is clearly a passing league, the value has only risen for a guy coming off the edge to bury a quarterback.
Everywhere, seemingly, than at One Buc Palace.
What was the hallmark of The Lost Decade? No edge rush. The one season the Bucs did have a dangerous edge rusher, the Bucs let the guy walk out the door for no good reason. And the team plummeted in the wins column, as did the defense.
Coincidence? Of course not.
There is no question that each of the Bucs’ Super Bowl-winning teams had a strong edge rush. Most champions do. For example, all four teams in the conference championship games last year had a good edge rusher.
But to hear folks from One Buc Palace, all of this intel — historical, statistical, practical — is all just a trivial coincidence.
The Bucs have a Lost Decade-level bad edge rush now. And the Bucs are 4-5 with a bad defense. Coincidence? Joe doesn’t believe in coincidences in football.
Today, defensive line coach/run game coordinator Kacy Rodgers fully admitted neither he nor the rest of the Bucs defensive coaches care about an edge rush, so long as someone puts a quarterback down.
Asked if he cared where a sack came from, Rodgers made it clear: No.
“The nature of our defense is we want to attack you from all different [angles],” Rodgers said. “We’re not sitting here saying, ‘Well, we need 10 from this guy.’ That’s never been our game.”
OK, Joe gets it in a general sense, a sack is a sack. Who cares where he is lined up?
Still, Joe is a history guy. Whenever the Bucs didn’t have an edge rush — no matter who the defensive coordinator was/is (or the head coach) — at best the Bucs were/are a .500-ish team.
The Bucs had a really good defense in the 1990s. But only when they acquired Simeon Rice did that defense become suffocating, legendary, historic.
What was the result? Super Bowl, baby. Boom, boom!
Four years ago the Bucs had a dangerous pincer attack with Jason Pierre-Paul and Shaq Barrett. How’d that work out?
Those guys helped the Bucs turn in one of the greatest defensive performances in Super Bowl history, sealing the Bucs’ second Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Coincidence? Hell, no!
If the Bucs had an edge rusher, imagine how the guy could only have to focus on attacking the quarterback and the Bucs wouldn’t have to blitz a linebacker or defensive back so often — leaving dudes running wide ass open down the middle of the defense week in and week out.
But no, let’s instead try to reinvent the wheel and have defensive tackles and outside linebackers pretend they are cornerbacks.
Joe is happy the defensive tackles, specifically, Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey, are starting to kick ass and bury quarterbacks. But just think how much better this defense would be if an edge rusher chased quarterbacks into Kancey’s lap more often, provided those same quarterbacks weren’t already beheaded by an edge rusher.
If the Bucs are satisfied with Lost Decade levels of edge rushing futility, don’t come whining about how the defense is underperforming.
November 7th, 2024 at 4:31 pm
it’s not the sacks it’s the pressures that matter lol
November 7th, 2024 at 4:55 pm
Have a great pass rush when only rushing 4 or at most 5 and then you’ll have something.
November 7th, 2024 at 4:56 pm
What else you supposed to say when your leading sacked is a 350 nose tackle
November 7th, 2024 at 4:59 pm
In Florida from New Mexico. Be at the game on Sunday. First game in about 2 years when Brady and the Bucs beat the Rams in Nov 2022.
Go Bucs!!! God bless and look out for this nation and Chris Godwin!
November 7th, 2024 at 5:29 pm
I think there’s a few elements to the game that are eroded when you’re blitzing random guys…..I imagine pass rushers need as many opportunities as possible to get in a groove with their teammates, a feel for what the opponent maybe doesn’t do well against, etc. There’s also a bit of mental deflation when your contract rewards you for sacks but your HC has you drop into coverage on obvious passing downs. JTS for example is playing for his next contract and while he’s not a good pass rusher, he’s less effective in coverage. The dude already has a hard time getting home but less opportunities do him no favors. IMO….that wears on the players, particularly when you’re not having any success.
November 7th, 2024 at 6:12 pm
The 2-7 Giants lead the league in sacks.
November 7th, 2024 at 7:43 pm
Yannick is available, just waiting for the article 😁
November 7th, 2024 at 8:38 pm
Where are we at in the league sack rankings? 7-9 area? With mostly interior sacks, a few secondary sacks, and some ILB sacks. Imagine where we could rank defensively with a dominant or two above average outside rushers?? Credit Bowles and the interior group to have gotten the sacks, so far but the organization continues to fail us when it comes to a dominant outside rusher.
November 7th, 2024 at 9:16 pm
Here’s one of LovieII’s stooges. Never developed one guy. Oversaw the regression or simple flame-out of everyone else. Have him push LovieII’s office cart of crap out and send him his stuff UPS.
November 7th, 2024 at 11:06 pm
I call BS. If they had consistent pressure from 4 or 5 linemen without blitzing it opens up the Defense to do alot more in the backfield.
November 8th, 2024 at 1:04 am
Joe, you’ve harped on this consistently in many different posts and, you’re 100% right. But, you’ve never laid it out better than you did right here. I couldn’t add anything. Hammer, meet nail.
November 8th, 2024 at 1:18 am
Bucs And Them:
Thank you very much for the kind words! 👍
November 8th, 2024 at 11:58 am
We know this. I remember an article earlier this season, Bowles saying he doesn’t care where the sacks come from. A 10+ sack edge guy doesn’t help if the rest of the team isn’t getting them… Something along those lines. Modern defenses have strong edge guys, Bowles doesn’t care, clearly. He needs to step down or step outside the door. This is ridiculous.